IBM on Friday introduced software for securing each layer of the infrastructure of a virtual server.

The Virtual Server Security product is built for VMware's vSphere platform for data center virtualization. The infrastructure software is capable of providing the foundation for private and public cloud computing environments.

Within the vSphere platform, IBM's latest offering secures the hypervisor, operating system, network applications, server-based virtual desktops, virtual machines, and the data traffic among them. The IBM software integrates with VMware's VMsafe, which is the application programming interface provided by the vendor for its security partners.

The automatic protection features within Virtual Server Security include control of network access from a virtual server, rootkit detection and prevention, virtual infrastructure monitoring and reporting, and autodiscovery and virtual network segment protection.

"For data center managers needing security solutions for their virtualized environments, the combination of IBM Virtual Server Security for VMware, together with VMware vSphere, can provide better visibility and control of data down to the finest granular level, preempting threats before they materialize," Shekar Ayyar, VP of infrastructure alliances for VMware, said in a statement.

The software is scheduled to be available next month.

Virtualization is found throughout many data centers and is rapidly moving onto users' desktops. The technology is used to cut hardware upgrade costs by consolidating more servers in a single box. In addition, virtualization simplifies administration from central servers and can provide a company's employees with the desktops they prefer.

However, security and I/O performance caused by running a lot of VMs on one server remain weaknesses that need more attention from vendors. Nevertheless, Forrester Research predicts that 45% of servers in data centers will be virtualized this year.

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